Consumer AI and devices
AI assistants, companions, creative apps and gadgets sold to individuals.
Who is making money
The companies earning or raising real money in this part of AI. Suppliers are marked: they sell to the builders rather than to end users.
consumer subscriptions
About $13B revenue in 2025, against about $34B of costs (reported)
Open profilePuts Gemini into Android phones, Search and Gmail, and sells paid AI plans.
25% of AI chip supply (Epoch AI)
Open profilethe best-selling AI wearable
Sales more than tripled (H1 2025)
Open profileVoice app for making audiobooks, dubbing and voice clips, and an API for developers.
About $500M ARR (Apr 2026, Sacra estimate)
Open profileAI search app with cited answers, sold free and through a paid plan to individuals.
More than $750M annualised, up from under $250M at the start of 2026 (press reports, Aug 2026)
Open profileDesign app used by millions for slides, posters and social posts, with AI built in.
About $4B annual recurring revenue at the end of 2025 (company)
Open profilecompanion chat
About $30M annualised (Jul 2025, Sacra estimate)
Open profileMakes slides, pages and websites from a prompt, sold on a free and paid plan.
Passed $100M ARR (company, late 2025). Sacra estimate $102M in Oct 2025
Open profileAI image generator used by artists and designers, sold by subscription.
About $500M in 2025 (Latka estimate)
Open profileAI video tools for filmmakers, studios and ad makers.
About $300M (Multiples.vc record)
Open profileAI music
About $300M ARR per the CEO (Feb 2026). Not audited
Open profileGerman maker of the FLUX image models, sold through an API and used inside other apps.
$3.25B (Dec 2025, after a $300M Series B)
Open profileOwns TikTok and CapCut, which now adds AI video and editing tools for everyday users.
Open profileAI video app for making short clips from text or an image.
Open profileAI music generator and a rival to Suno, used to make songs from prompts.
Open profileWhere the money flows
Consumers pay subscriptions or for hardware, but most use free versions subsidised by the labs.
No money flows mapped here yet.
The openings
Gaps still open in this area, from ones a small business could take to ones only giants can play.
- Small business Niche apps for one hobby or life task, built on the big models
- Small business Consumer helpers for local services (NZ travel, property, health admin)
- Startup money A new AI device category
- Giants only An operating-system-level assistant
AI gadgets keep failing (HP bought the failed Humane AI Pin for $116M), and people will not pay when free assistants are good enough.
Sources: menlovc.com, hp.com
The map updates three times a week.
241 companies across 25 areas, 62 money flows and 89 openings so far. New research lands every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
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